In the world of maps Emilio Cueto is sort of the modern-day version of a sixteenth-century conquistador. Only he’s not reclaiming the New World for Spain, he’s taking over the blueprints once used to colonize Cuba, the pearl of the Greater Antilles. Twenty-five years ago, a friend of Cueto gave…
On a steamy Thursday at noon, animal-rights activist Howard Garrett prepares to walk into forbidden territory. He holds a camera and hides behind the flora of a blue Hawaiian shirt and black, hit-man-style shades — tourist camouflage. Garrett scans his ticket and pushes against the turnstile. It’s been more than…
Home-run king Tony Oliva’s Minnesota Twins jersey is there. So is the glove that Kansas City Royals great Cookie Rojas used in 1967, when he played all nine positions. Then there are the shoes Oakland A’s speedster Bert Campaneris wore to steal 62 bases in 1968, the home-run ball Phillies…
In the garden of his home in Lisbon during the Renaissance, a well-to-do elderly man talks to a young girl about life, love, and death. Three women share their day-to-day experiences and dream of better times. Another woman narrates how she did what she could to get by. These and…
The Spanish word is anoranza, the romantic longing that creeps up on many Cuban exiles whenever they begin musing how nothing can compare with the Cuba of old. Those who enjoyed the island’s glory days often close their age-of-innocence tales with a reminder that before 1959 there was no reason…
Jesus Cantu, an autistic seven-year-old boy, wraps his arms loosely around a marble statue of the Virgin carrying baby Jesus. Then, after circling it in a dizzying dance of affection, he stops and kisses Mary’s stone-cold face. Nearby, 80-year-old Maria Vasallo sits quietly waiting for three o’clock and a miracle…
It’s a bittersweet question for the regulars in Little Havana’s Domino Park: Is Havana Cola as good as the real thing? At New Times’s behest, eight locals this past week took a swig and a sip. To most Havana Cola means, well, Cuba libre. Taste-testers reacted to everything but the…
On the night of April 22, 1988, Miami art collector Ramon Cernuda presided over an auction at the now-defunct Cuban Museum of Art and Culture. “Going once, going twice … and sold for $500,” the auctioneer announced. The pounding of the gavel sealed the fate of the painting, which was…
Passover, which begins this week, is a celebration of food and faith. The Passover dinner, called the Seder, commemorates the exodus of the Jews from oppression in Egypt. Kosher standards are especially important during the holiday. For four Jews memories of Pesach 1998 hold a bitter taste. Adi Nimni, Goren…
